日本杨贵妃传说的流变及思想史考察

日本有相当多关于唐代杨贵妃东渡日本的传说。一些日人相信这些东渡日本的传说,而且还提供文献及遗迹作佐证。杨贵妃在日本是个千面佛,以日本神祇、观音、天仙、政治家、难民及女刺客等不同身份出现。日本的杨贵妃传说虽然流于荒诞,但背后有丰富的历史意义,有助我们了解中国文化如何在日本被本地化。在日本流传的诸多杨贵妃传说中,热田神宫版最具创意及影响力,在日本思想史及中日文化交流史都很有意义。将杨贵妃当作是日本天神的化身,以保护日本是集中古以来流行的本地垂迹说及护国思想。这种思想将中国传入的东西本地化,将中国的东西挪用,变成日本自己的东西。日本中世以至近世热田神宫的杨贵妃传说令中国人眼中的红颜祸水摇身一变成为护国神明。日人崇拜杨贵妃并非因为她是中国人或是基于中国崇拜的心理,而是因为她是日本神祇的化身,所以与民族认同不但没有冲突,反而强化民族主义。     

Determining the Number of Factors in Approximate Factor Models

In this paper we develop some econometric theory for factor models of large dimensions. The focus is the determination of the number of factors (r), which is an unresolved issue in the rapidly growing literature on multifactor models. We first establish the convergence rate for the factor estimates that will allow for consistent estimation of r. We then propose some panel criteria and show that the number of factors can be consistently estimated using the criteria. The theory is developed under the framework of large cross‐sections (N) and large time dimensions (T). No restriction is imposed on the relation between N and T. Simulations show that the proposed criteria have good finite sample properties in many configurations of the panel data encountered in practice.     

Remove unwanted variation retrieves unknown experimental designs

Remove unwanted variation (RUV) is an estimation and normalization system in which the underlying correlation structure of a multivariate dataset is estimated from negative control measurements, typically gene expression values, which are assumed to stay constant across experimental conditions. In this paper we derive the weight matrix which is estimated and incorporated into the generalized least squares estimates of RUV-inverse, and show that this weight matrix estimates the average covariance matrix across negative control measurements. RUV-inverse can thus be viewed as an estimation method adjusting for an unknown experimental design. We show that for a balanced incomplete block design (BIBD), RUV-inverse recovers intra- and interblock estimates of the relevant parameters and combines them as a weighted sum just like the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE), except that the weights are globally estimated from the negative control measurements instead of being individually optimized to each measurement as in the classical, single measurement BIBD BLUE.     

Asymptotic Comparison Between Constant-stress Testing and Step-stress Testing for Type-I Censored Data from Exponential Distribution

By running the life tests at higher stress levels than normal operating conditions, accelerated life testing quickly yields information on the lifetime distribution of a test unit. The lifetime at the design stress is then estimated through extrapolation using a regression model. In constant-stress testing, a unit is tested at a fixed stress level until failure or the termination time point of the test, while step-stress testing allows the experimenter to gradually increase the stress levels at some pre-fixed time points during the test. In this article, the optimal k-level constant-stress and step-stress accelerated life tests are compared for the exponential failure data under Type-I censoring. The objective is to quantify the advantage of using the step-stress testing relative to the constant-stress one. A log-linear relationship between the mean lifetime parameter and stress level is assumed and the cumulative exposure model holds for the effect of changing stress in step-stress testing. The optimal design point is then determined under C-optimality, D-optimality, and A-optimality criteria. The efficiency of step-stress testing compared to constant-stress testing is discussed in terms of the ratio of optimal objective functions based on the information matrix.     

Uniform Tail Asymptotics for the Sum of Two Correlated Classes with Stochastic Returns and Dependent Heavy Tails

Consider a continuous-time risk model with two correlated classes of insurance business and risky investments whose price processes are geometric Lévy processes. By assuming that the correlation comes from a common shock, and the claim sizes are heavy-tailed and pairwise quasi-asymptotically independent, we investigate the tail behavior of the sum of the stochastic present values of the two correlated classes, and a uniform asymptotic formula is obtained.     

Semi-parametric modelling of temperature records

A range of instrumental and proxy temperature records are examined semi-parametrically, using empirical densities and quantile autoregressions containing a unit root, to assess the extent of non-stationarity and the presence of global warming trends. Only the instrumental records covering the last century and a half show any evidence of non-stationarity, but the trend behaviour of these series remains elusive.     

ETHNIC IDENTITIES AND CULTURAL CAPITAL: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF CHINESE OPERA IN SINGAPORE

This article weaves the trajectory of Chinese opera in Singapore with the country's political development. Starting in 1965, the year of Singapore's independence, it attempts to debunk the myth that national culture is resistant to global culture by describing the state's systematic erosion of local culture. From the late 1970s onward, with economic progress, state fears of “Westernisation” led to a centring of Chinese culture in national culture; this was followed by a mini-revival of Chinese opera that coincided with the emergence of Confucian ethics as national discourse and as a culturalist explanation for the “Asian miracle” of the 1980s. This article shows that globalisation's effect on local cultures is not a straightforward process. Instead, it is a complex relationship where the flourishing of a local culture depends on the changing recognition and valuation of cultural identities, ethnicity, and language as cultural capital. This in turn implicates the structural features of national policies and globalisation processes that determine the recognition and valuation of this cultural capital. The use of “cultural capital” as a conceptual tool to isolate the cultural and social components of Chinese opera demonstrates that a local culture flourishes or withers according to the effects of globalisation and national policies on such cultural and social factors.     

Is brief daily body–mind–spirit practice desirable for staff who provide services for elderly people? Two pilot studies with care and professional workers

A symptoms-focused approach had only limited short-term effects in addressing burnout. A new trend is toward a positive approach in fostering well-being in the workplace. The current study piloted a daily body–mind–spirit practice programme which provided a 15-minute small-group meeting with staff who provide services for elderly people, towards the end of every workday for one month at two study sites. Repeated measures of burnout, daily spiritual experience (DSE) and engagement were taken at pre-intervention, post-intervention (the intervention lasted for one month) and one month after intervention. The two groups, home help workers and professional staff respectively, showed different patterns in burnout reduction and increase of DSE.